ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — There’s some confusion for about 2,000 Orange County voters who requested a mail in ballot.

What You Need To Know

  • About 1,700 people in Orange County's Precinct 430 received incomplete mail-in ballots

  • More than 300,000 people have requested mail-in ballots in Orange County

  • Elections officials say a software issue caused two local races to be omitted from the ballots

  • Related: Florida 2020 Voting Guide

In Precinct 430, which covers a portion of Lake Nona, about 1,700 people who requested a mail-in ballot were missing two local races on their ballots, the Greenway Improvement District seat races for seats 1 and 5. 

Jasmin Martin is one of more than 300,000 voters in Orange County who chose to vote by mail, and now has two ballots in her hand.

“Goodness gracious," Martin said. "How could they get this wrong with so much controversy over the elections?”

This comes after the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office was informed that two local races were missing from some ballots in the Lake Nona area.

“In the software for the voter registration site, it was pointing to the one ballot that did not have those two races on it," Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said. "This is just a sub-precinct of a big precinct.”

The old ballot that is missing two local races still has use for Martin. She also says she will now hand deliver her ballot as oppose to putting it in the mail.

“I’m going to use my old ballot as my ballot to mark up," Martin says. "I am going in with my new ballot, and I am going to hand deliver it.”

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To add to the confusion, about 100 voters received a ballot with the two Greenway Improvement district races who shouldn’t have. Cowles says no matter what, only one vote will be counted from those who may now have two ballots, or already mailed theirs in.

“The envelopes and ballots are programmed such that we will know which ballot to accept,” Cowles said. 

It is a process that some still feel is unacceptable.

“This is a demonstration of total incompetence on the part of the elected officials that are suppose to be safeguarding our vote,” Martin said.

Cowles does take ownership of the mishap, and said his office is doing everything it can to make it right with the 1,700 voters who need a new ballot.

If someone who received an incomplete ballot already mailed it in, Cowles says that is OK. He said that they will still honor that original ballot and count it. It will, however, not have the two local races included in the voting counts come election night.